Heavenly Villa

This situation has been sorted. The creators of the mesh version of Mac's store have removed it from mp. It was explained to mac how the situation came about and the creators of the mesh version talked to him. He asked them to remove from MP and they have.

It's not a faultless process by any means. I know alot of times I've bought good items on mp and haven't left a review. I will endeavour to make more effort to leave good reviews for good items. Is it that people tend to put more bad reviews than good? It's good to see the general consensus so far may be to ask for an improved review, but dont push it. I was curious as to what people thought after I recently purchased something from mp and at first got a good response from the creator after I found a part missing from the box that I needed. They first asked that I give them a good review (WITHOUTproviding the missing part), then when I only gave an improved review (due to their quick response and refund of the money, but no item), they then contacted me again, provided the missing item and told me to give them a better review.

I am just wondering what people think about marketplace reviews. Specifically, do designers feel if it is ok or not ok to ask a customer to change a negative review to a positive one? Do designers feel its ok to ask a customer to change a review if they address the issue the customer raised? Or are customers entitled to put whatever they want without any pressure being put on them by designers to change a review? My view is if a customer raises an issue or concern, the designer addresses that specifically and does their best to fix it. It is up to the customer if they then wish to change the review they put. This is how I operate as a builder. What are others thoughts?

Live at the Home and Garden Expo - Anek Fuchs - 5 pm slt on the entertainment sim - supporting RFL http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Entertainment%20and%20Activities/111/108/24

Live at the Expo - Franck Molko from 9 am slt Friday 31st May http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Entertainment%20and%20Activities/111/108/24

Once a year RFL holds a massive home and garden expo and breedables fair - with a huge amount of awesome home and garden designers on 8 sims, plus 2 sims with breedables fair - only on for a short time. It ends on 2 June so get there before its gone for another year! http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Entertainment%20and%20Activities/111/108/24

My apologies Trinity. My frustration is that people actually step up and try to do something to help everyone in SL and people come on to the forums only to pull it apart. Thats how previous posts about our survey and the post on this thread read, which I responded to. We have provided statistical and qualitative (meaning relevant information). I have not offered an interpretation because I know this information can be interpreted many different ways by different people. I also knew there had been a delay in getting the results posted and didnt wnt to keep delaying it. The information is posted for ourselves and others to use and others can interpret it however they wish. I do appreciate everyone who took the time to complete the survey and your feedback. Next time I will do the analysis of the results myself, rather than rely on google docs to do it. We will do several things differently. This was our first one, it has given a lot of useful information, but certainly we will also learn from it on what we have done wrong this time. Regards Heavenly

If you want a professional survey done with exact results, please feel free to do it yourself or pay for one. This was done by merchants invested in making some positive changes in SL and taking the first step of finding out what some of the issues concerning merchants were and the survey gave us that information. Please note I did NOT put anywhere in the results that this sample was a representative sample of the merchant population of SL. I could have put a whole lot of jargon used for surveys, but people are not interested in that, they just want to know what was reported. ALL I have done is reported what the results were. The majority of the results were actually calculated by google docs so please feel free to take up any miscalculations with them. 1. Not all of the people who completed the survey were merchants, there were some who were shoppers and skipped the business questions. The percentages is out of the total number who did the survey, not all completed some of the questions. 2. I believe the largest percentage of merchants to answer the survey were clothing merchants, not home and garden designers. 3. Regarding marketplace, you have missed what I put at the beginning - that it appears that there may be an issue with there not being clear instruction on how to use marketplace given some of the answers by respondents not knowing how to do things. Thank you to those who have responded in a positive light and appreciate what we are providing for you for free

In January 2013 the CBD posted a survey to find out what issues were concerning merchants and businesses in SL. The results are now posted on the CBD website. Thank you to those who participated in the survey. http://businessdevelopmentcentresl.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/centre-for-business-development-2013-business-survey-findings/

This lovely shopping sim is offering all sorts of goodies for couples during a Valentines sale at half price. It's a lovely sim to visit to shop for items for your home. This sale is only going for a week and finishes at midnight 17 Feb. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Clarington%20Park/116/124/23

Sorry, but Magnum and search are still having problems since the big crash a few weeks ago. Our home and garden market im is on Magnum - it shows in fs search, but in legacy search it still lists the old sim that no longer exists! The Builders Courtyard did not show in most viewers search until it was moved to a different server by LL. We checked using singularity, phoenix, firestorm, LL viewer and catznip - it only showed using phoenix. Some new parcels / sims dont seem to show in search for most viewers even when ticked for several days. The Teddy Bear Park doesnt show in search on fs, but does show in legacy search.

TP to the builders courtyard - helps if i remember to enter the surl

For a while now I've been wishing there was a great sim to go to where I could get stuff for building and everything was there. Well its here! The Builders Courtyard has just opened and it has a range of great full perm content creators for home and garden designers like me - animations, textures, sculpties and yummy mesh. The sim looks good and the stores are good sizes and well laid out so it's easy to walk around and check items out. I've already had a wee shopping spree here and I'm sure I will be back for more. Some of my fav stores are there and some new ones I didnt know about, but will be shopping at more.

Hi All Thanks to all those who have contributed to the survey by completing it and those who contributed to the previous thread - it obviously made for some heated debate. :) Today is the last day you can do the survey, so if you have not had a chance, here is the link. It only takes a few minutes and the more information we have, the more informed we can about what the issues are. http://businessdevelopmentcentresl.wordpress.com/ Thanks to you all :) The CBD Team

Just to clarify - the CBD is a group of proactive business people in sl who want to improve the ability for businesses in sl to survive and grow. We come from different areas and different experience, but our philosophy is the same - working together to achieve a stronger, growing SL for all. We are realistic in what we may or may not be able to achieve. We have just started so there is alot we need to work through. This survey is a start to help provide us with information to identify issues facing business people in SL - freebies, land costs, marketplace, resident retention, lack of ability to communicate directly with LL, start up costs, marketing etc. Nor are we only interested in our own opinions. The survey is to get a range of views from people in SL. We are NOT here to promote our own business or to develop and sell our own products as a group. We are looking beyond our own immediate business to the bigger picture. As for the group "credentials" - why is this important ? We dont have PhDs in economics, but that doesnt mean we dont have a clue as to what is going on or arent capable of making SOME difference. I struggled to make my store successful for several years, in a market where several big furniture stores had a monopoly. Several other small designers had the same frustrations and two of us started a collaborative of home and garden stores. This has been running for almost two years now and my store is doing better than ever. In rl, I have a qualification that gives me the skills to know how to do a survey. I also managed a not-for-profit agency for 4 years. When I took over the agency it had very little money in the bank and was at risk of losing the government contracts that it had in a time when other funding was drying up due to the recession. It also had an almost non-existent client base. By the time I left (to do other things), it had a sizeable amount of income, secure contracts, a large client base and a good standing in the community. Being able to achieve this meant I had some "smarts" at running a business and knowing what is involved and it is NOT all about the "economy". Many factors, both in SL and RL, contribute to running a successful business and thereby to the economy. It not just about understanding what an economy is. Many people in SL, both small and big business operators, understand what does and doesnt affect the success of their business. Thanks

Thank you for your support and comments. Anyone, including those with PhDs in economics, are welcome to join the group and contribute to what we are endeavouring to do, which is for the benefit of everyone, not just ourselves. The questions are not meant to reflect the economy, but to gain an understanding of what the issues are for residents, particularly those who do run businesses, big or small, in SL.

HI To try to answer your questions (in no particular order): 1. No we are not hired / employed / contracted by Linden Labs in any way shape or form. We are a group of people who have had businesses in SL from 1 - 5 or more years. We came together initially as to have informal discussions about operating businesses in SL and some of the issues that we face that may impact positively or negatively on business growth in SL. From these discussions we decided we wanted to take a proactive approach and see what we can do as residents who are invested in seeing SL grow, to the benefit of residents, the sl economy and yes, Linden Labs. 2. Yes the information will be released on the CBD website, with statistical and qualitative findings. The raw data will not be released to ensure we protect residents privacy. 3. The questions are based on many of the robust discussions the group have had around those issues we feel do impact on a resident's ability to start, develop and grow a business in SL. The questions also reflect how SL itself has changed over the last few years - the decrease in resident retention, information LL no longer releases about the SL economy that would be useful to residents, marketplace, technical changes in SL etc. In order for us to develop really useful strategies that will benefit residents, they need to be "evidence based". The more information we have, the more informed decisions we can make. 4. The Centre for Business Development is just starting up and we have identified three areas / streams of work we are looking at working in. Assisting new business is one of these. Resources will be offered to residents to help them, including marketing strategies. We have just started these and they will be available at the Centre. Thanks for having a look at the survey and asking the questions.

The Centre for Business Development is undertaking a survey to get feedback from SL residents about SL. The Centre is a collaborative of business people who want to be proactive in growing and making SL stronger for residents and business people in SL. We want to help you to grow your business in SL and for that to happen we need your feedback. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey. Your feedback will help us to help you and the SL economy, to help improve those things in SL we all know are frustrating or not going well. The survey is confidential and will not collect any personally identifying information. Here is the link to do the survey. http://businessdevelopmentcentresl.wordpress.com/ Thank you very much. :)

The Centre for Business Development is a collaborative of business people in SL who want to improve things in SL and the SL economy for all. We are looking at the "bigger picture", what is working and what is not working for businesses in SL and residents trying to run a business in SL. We want to improve the SL economy, provide assistance to business and be able to work along side LL to grow SL for the benefit of all. To start with the CBD is undertaking a survey to get some basic information from residents that will help highlight what some of the main issues facing residents in SL are. The survey only takes 5 minutes to complete and we would appreciate it if you take the time to complete the survey, ask your friends and family and groups etc to complete it. The more information we have from you, the better job we can do for you. This is the link to the survey http://businessdevelopmentcentresl.wordpress.com/ Thanks so much CBD Team

you know - for them to ban people who moved on to the same sim as me or who joined my group or who are close friends of mine in sl - they really must be keeping a close eye on me and what i do. should i be creeped out or flattered?

When I see what has happened to Mac, Honey, Rosemary, Tess and Thaddeus and others that I know who have also been treated badly by the same group - it just pees me off that these are lovely and creative people who are just trying to work on their own businesses in sl are getting treated badly for petty and childish reasons. Selling in sl is difficult enough during these tough economic times without a group banning them and treating them badly simply because they also choose to be associated with me and my group. Both groups were started wtih the purpose of helping designers in sl and offering residents good shopping experiences and I know at least our group has continued to do that over the last year. I dont care if designers want to belong to other groups or have stores on other sims, good for them, thats their choice and if it helps them to grow their business, thats great. Yes people have the right to ban whoever they want from their land and this is necessary for privacy or protection from griefers and trouble makers, but this isnt that situation. And in the end this other group is only hurting themselves, their shoppers and the designers they purport to help.

As someone who knows mac - he is neither stupid nor a drama queen. He is simply raising an issue that is understandably frustrating.

ok to clarify the situation - to apply to participate in hunts, mac and honey have to go to a certain sim to get the application forms for OTHER peoples hunts and cant because of the banning from the sim the applications are on. a ban that has occurred for no reason that he can understand.

mac has never been to this particular sim before, never caused any problems for the owners. He is simply trying to go about his business in SL, participate in a hunt that is supposed to be open to all home and garden designers and found he can not apply because he was banned from their commercial sim. he has never caused any problems for the sim owner or their business group. he is saying he is frustrated and feels he is being treated unfairly because of dramas this sim owner may be creating because of issues they have with another home and garden group.

HI carlotte mac is not being abusive. he is frustrated as he wanted to participate in a hunt and found he was banned from a sim for no reason. he never caused a problem there. the problem is that he reason he was banned may simply be because of an association with another home and garden market group, that this particular sim owner does not like. he is talking about innocent bystanders being treated unfairly because of drama being created by others.